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Today is St. Stephen’s Day. The citizens of the British Commonwealth denote the day by putting on trunks and gloves to beat each other bloody silly. Another reason to appreciate the American Revolution – a peaceful December 26th. If you are starting your Christmas shopping for 2025, you’re either way ahead of the curve orContinue reading “Wishing well with a golden bell”

December 26, 1951 –The film that introduced Akira Kurosawa to world audiences, Rashomon, starring Toshiro Mifune and Machiko Kyo, opened in the US on this date. During shooting, the cast approached Kurosawa en masse with the script and asked him, “What does it mean?” The answer Akira Kurosawa gave at that time and also inContinue reading “Rashomon premiered in the US”

December 26, 1967 – 57 years ago today, The Beatles gave their fans a Christmas present – Magical Mystery Tour was shown on the BBC on this date. After its premiere on BBC1 on this date, in 1967, Ringo Starr apparently rang up the BBC complaining that the movie got poor ratings because it wasContinue reading “We all went of the Mystery Tour for the first time”

December 26, 1958 –Stan Freberg presents a check for $1,000 to the Hemophilia Foundation of Southern California as his royalties from the first year’s release of Green Chri$tma$, on this date. He gave all the proceeds from the song to charity, defusing any criticism that he was hypocritically profiting from the subject of his satire.

December 25, 1990 –Francis Ford Coppola’s much maligned sequel, The Godfather III starring everyone you would expect (except Robert Duvell, who couldn’t come to an agreement about his salary,) went into general release on this date. Francis Ford Coppola once admitted that he was still unhappy over the final result because of lack of timeContinue reading “The Godfather III opened”

December 25, 1962 –Robert Mulligan’s adaptation of Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, starring Gregory Peck and Mary Badham opened on this date. The watch used in the film was a prop, but Harper Lee gave Gregory Peck her father’s watch after the film was completed, because he reminded her so much of him.

December 25, 2013 –The Martin Scorsese drama The Wolf of Wall Street, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, and Matthew McConaughey premiered in US theatres on this date. Matthew McConaughey’s scenes were shot on the second week of filming. The chest beating and humming performed by him was improvised and actually a warm-up riteContinue reading “A wonderful film to open during the holidays”

Do you hear what I hear?< Christmas is but a day away. Although the ACME phone banks are closed, believe me, ACME factories are hard at work. So, were you naughty or nice? You may dab your eyes – It really doesn’t matter at this point, Santa knows the score.

December 24, 1953 –Jack Webb’s series Dragnet aired a special episode, The Big Little Jesus on this date. The episode was network television’s first half-hour color film. It was the only color show of the series. Those of you with very sharp eyes can tell with some prompting that this is not the color episode.Continue reading “The Big Little Jesus premiered”

December 24, 1940 – George Cukor’s classic film-comedy The Philadelphia Story, starring Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn, and Jimmy Stewart opened on this date. The film was shot in eight weeks, and required no retakes. During the scene where James Stewart hiccups when drunk, you can see Cary Grant looking down and grinning. Since the hiccupContinue reading “The Philadelphia Story premiered”